After multiple joint pain/inflammation/stiffness, blood work done, tested positive for lyme disease. Going from drug free / medicine free for 29 yr healthy male to having tested positive for Lyme. (so far only knee and shoulder join pain and stiffness, but I guess this is good enough to warrant late lyme arthritis atleast). I can't remember the last time I took any medicine, and going forward I don't think I'll remember how long i'll be taking medicines for. pretty scary, pretty funny.

ELISA screen > 5.0, IGG band (7 positive out of 10). IGM (1 positive out of 3). Indicates that lyme disease was acquired long time back. Between me and my doctor we haven't figured out when. Anyways, so I got my first prescription of Doxy. This is the first time in my life, will be taking medicines.

The question I have is that my doctor claim she is conservative and is not in favor of many antibiotics and has put me on doxy for only 3 wks. Is there anything I need to do while I take my first dose of Doxy, (read some threads for detoxfying while on anti-biotics?, eat less sugar? I will be going on salad starting tomorrow?) Also, since the treatment of Lyme disease is very patient specific, and diagnosis unclear, is second opinion from another doctor recommended?

How am I supposed to feel right now? What question do I need to ask my doctor.

Don't take vitamin C while on the antibiotic. C keeps any antibiotic from working. Take as much garlic as you can in hopes that the bacteria will not form cysts to hide from the antibiotic. There might be others that work better, but I don't know them.

Hi pepphell,Welcome to Healingwell. Sorry you need to be here. To answer you questions, the reason your pcp said she is conservative is because she probably will not treat you with more than the three weeks of ABX. If your symptoms do not clear after the three weeks you may need to see a doctor that specializes in treating Lyme disease. We call these Lyme Literate doctors LLMD's. I would suggest you find a LLMD for a second opinion. You can learn about treatment guidelines, and find doctor referals at ilads.org and lymediseaseassociation.org

I don't have a pcp. I have never been to a doctor until the joint pains. It was my orthopedic doctor who started me on some physical therapy, and later with moving pains in joints, ordered the blood tests and upon the findings sent me to a rhuematologist, who then prescribed doxy. I start my first dose tomorrow. the doxy box says to avoid exposure in sun/sunlight, to vitamins, antacids, iron and dairy products as well.

Also is anyone in and around NYC area around on this forum, and is aware of some sort of group meet or something, please let me know. Our misery must find common ground. :) Reading the treatment guidelines, complications of lyme disease look pretty darn nasty. eeww. God bless all of us.

Welcome to the forum! Your best bet would be to find a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor. If you have chronic Lyme Disease, three weeks of antibiotics will not be enough. Cheezhead gave you a great resource for finding a good doctor. I'll give yopu more information below:

Welcome to the forum! We're so glad that you found us:)

For information on finding a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor(LLMD) in your area, please email our long time member, Ticker at:ko_@bellsouth.net

You will want to find an ILADS(International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society) doctor. TheILADS site is a great place to read to get you started on your Lyme journey.www.ilads.org/

For great info and links, please read the topic at the top of the first page of this forum titled, "New To Lyme?......Start Here!" It will help you get started learning about lyme.**You never know how STRONG you are....until being STRONG is the ONLY choice you have**

Dr. Burrascano's guidelines state that Lyme patients need Vitamin C. It boosts the immune system. If anyone is worried about it interfering with their antibiotics, then take it a few hours later.**You never know how STRONG you are....until being STRONG is the ONLY choice you have**

I would have to disagree with the no vitamin c thing also. My doctor has me on two different vitamin c based supplements for adrenal support - and I'm also on doxy (among lots of other things). I think the key to doxy is that is has to be taken separately from any other pills or supplements, but you can still take those things at another time of day. If it specifically says to avoid a particular thing, space it out by at least 2 hours, otherwise an hour for other meds/supplements should be OK. Take doxy with some food to avoid being really nauseated.